Electric circuit closing and breaking device for railway-tracks



(No Model.) T. H. PATENAL'L. ELECTRIC CIRCUIT CLOSING AND BREAKINGDEVICE FOR RAILWAY TRACKS.

,850. Patented Nov. 10,1891.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIcn;

THOMAS H. PATENALL, OF RAHIVAY, NE\V JERSEY.

ELECTRIC CIRCUIT CLOSING AND BREAKING DEVICE FOR RAILWAY-TRACKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 462,850, dated November10, 1891.

Application filed February 20, 1891. Serial No. 382.207 (No model.)

To all whont it may concern:

Be 1t known that I, THOMAS ll. PATENALL,

I of Railway, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Electric Circuit Closing andBreaking Devices for Railway-Tracks, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to an improvement in circuit closing and breakingdevices for railway-tracks, in which the depression of the rail underthe impulse of a passing train serves to change the position of a fluentelectric conductor, so as to establish or break an electric circuit forsounding an alarm, setting a visible signal, &c. \Vhere a fluentconductor is employedsuch, for example, as mercury-it is of greatimportance that it should be wholly inclosed against liability ofevaporation, and that it should be so dis posed as to render itsexpansion and contraction under the influence of heat and coldinsufficient to unintentionally sound the alarm or set the signal.

The object of my present invention is to provide means for accomplishingthe abovedesired ends and to furnish a simple and eifective device whichshall be extremely sensitive to the vibrations of the rail and whichwill not be liable to get out of order.

A practical embodiment of my invention is represented in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is aview of the device in sideelevation, partly in section. Fig. 2 is a top plan View with the cap orguard removed. Fig. 3 is a view in transverse section through line 00 asof Fig. 2, showing the cap or guard in position; and Fig. 4: is a Viewin end elevation with the cap or guard removed.

A represents one of the rails of a railwaytrack supported uponcross-ties B, as is usual. In the present instance the ties B are shownas extended to a considerable distance beyond the track to form asupport for the circuit closing and breaking device.

In proximity to the outer edge of the rail A there is located abase-plate C, extending between two adjacent ties B, and provided at itsends with flanges 0, through which it is bolted to the ties. In practiceI prefer to make the body of the plate (1 lower than the tops of theties and to provide it with a longitudinal strengthening-rib c to giveit the necessary stiffness without an unnecessary weight of metal. Ialso provide the flanges c with strengthening-ribs 0 The body portion ofthe plate C is provided with a pair of upwardly-extending cars 0 betweenwhich a lever I) is pivot-ally secured-as, for example, by a pivotalbolt (Z. The short end of the lever D, or that toward the track A, isprovided with a slot (1, adapted to receive the flange at the base ofthe track A, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. I prefer to extend the lowerjaw (Z of the said short end of the lever under the rail to a point nearits center, and to make the opening (1 sufficiently wide to leave roomfor inserting therein above the flange of the rail a seat-piece (Z andto provide for the seating of the piece (Z firmly on the flange of therail by a setscrew (1*, extending through the upper jaw of the short endof the lever and bearing against the said seat-piece. By this means I amenabled to form a close contact between the lever and the rail, and ifthe seat-piece (Z be of some slightly-yielding material there will belittle or no liability of the joint between the rail and the leverworking loose under the repeated jar of the passing wheels.

The long arm of the lever D extends outwardly to a pedestal E, whichsupports the fluent circuit-closing material and a plunger for operatingit, as follows: The pedestal E is provided with a hollow base, withinwhich the end of the lever D extends, and is there coupled to the lowerend of a plunger F by means of a loose joint e, formed, for example, bybifurcating the lower end of the plunger F and pivoting the end of thelever between the branches of the bifurcated. end of the plunger,leaving a sufficient amount of play to accommodate the slightly-curvedpath in which the end of the lever D works. The plunger F is fitted withcare to the vertical bore f in the barrel c, which rest-s upon or isformed integral with the pedestal E. The bore f extends through to thetop of the barrel 6, and at a short distance from the upper end of thebore the said barrel is provided with a pair of sockets or chambers e 6spaced a short distance from each other and provided at their lower endswith channels 6 e which gradually approach each other'as they extenddownwardly and finallyunite, so as to form a communication between thesockets e and 6 A head-plate G is provided with a channel g in its underface, one end of which is in position to communicate with the boref andthe other end of which is in position to com-' municate with the socketor chamber e when the head-plate is in position. It is intended that thehead-plate G shall be firmly fixed to the top of the barrel @as, forexample, by screws ga'nd that there shall be asuitable packinginterposed between the head-plate and the valve, if found necessary, soas to make an air-tight connection, effectually closing allcommunication between the sockets or chambers e and e and the bore f,excepting through the channels e c and g.

To effectually seal the joint between the plunger F and the boref, andto provide for an easy movement of the plunger, I find it desirable tofix a feather-edge washer f to the end of the plunger and to keep asupply f of some suitable lubricant on the washer within the boref. Theintroduction of the washer and the lubricant is, howevelgnot absolutelynecessary to the successful operation of the device, as the j oin-tbetween the plunger and the bore may be made substantially airtight.

, Within the channels 6 and e I locate a small amount of mercury H,which fills the cavity formed by the meeting of the two branches andextends for a short distance up each of the branches, as clearly shownin Fig.

Where an open circuit is employed and the object is to close the circuitby the depression of the rail, I locate one of the points of contact Iin contact with the mercury at the lower ends of the two branches 6 ande and the other contact-point I in position to engage the mercury whenit shall have been forced out of its normal position up the branch 6 Itis obvious that if a closed circuit were employed and the purpose of thedepression of the rail were to break the circuit the two contact-pointsmight be located in contact with the mercury when in its normalposition, and so that when thrown out of its normal position it wouldexpose one of such contactpoints.

Over the upper end of the channel (2 within the socket or chamber e Ilocate a shield 'i, the purpose of which is to prevent the mercury underthe impulse of the compressed air in the socket or chamber 6 from flyingsuddenly upwardly into the channel g as the rail A assumes its normalposition.

The operation is as follows: As the train depresses the rail A and withit the short end of the lever D, the long end of said lever will lifttheplunger F, and will thereby compress the air within the upper portion ofthe bore f, and such compressed air will act through the channel g,socket c and channel e upon the mercury in said last-namedbranch-channel and cause it to rise in the opposite channel intoengagement with the contact-point I,

' and thereby close circuit. As soon as the rail A returns to its normalposition the mercury will again assume its normal position in the twobranches 6 and e and the circuit will thereby become broken. As themercury is confined within a space wholly shut out from the externalair, there will be no liability of its evaporation, nor will there beany possibility ofaccess thereto of dust or dirt or any foreignsubstance. Furthermore, because of the small quantity of mercuryemployed in the cavity at the juncture of the two branches, the effectof heat to expand the mercury will cause it to rise a comparativel yshort distance, so that the contact-point I may be located within suchconvenient'proximity to the surface of the mercury as to render itnecessary to force it but a short distance to establish the circuit, andat the same time prevent unintentional closing of the circuit by theeffects of heat.

The device is extremely simple, composed of few parts, and these soarranged as to render their wear very slight, and thus the device iscapable of standing for a long time in perfect working order withoutattention.

In order .to guard against any disturbance of the head-plate G or of thewires which lead from the contact-points I I, I provide a cap or guardK, which fits down over the top of the barrel, as shown in Fig. 3, and Ialso provide a pipe 7c for conducting the wires from the space withinthe cap or guard K downwardly to the bottom of the pedestal E and awayto the point at which the electric energy is to be applied.

What I claim is- 1. The combination, with a reciprocating plunger underthe control of a railway-rail, of a receptacle for a fluent electricconductor, said receptacle having separated branches, one of which is incommunication with an airchamber at the end of the plunger through aninclosed channel, and contact-points located in position to engage thefluent conductor, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with an air-chamber, a reciprocating plunger adaptedto compress the air within the chamber, and a lever adapted to connectthe plunger with a railway-rail, of a receptacle for a fluent electricconductor having separate branches extending upward ly therefrom, one of.the branches being in communication with the said air-chamber and bothbranches, together with the receptacle, being closed againstcommunication with the outside air, and contact-points locatedinposition to engage the fluent conductor, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with a receptacle for a fluent electrical conductor,comprising channels extending downwardly toward one another and merginginto one at the bottom, and contact-points exposed at intervals withinthe channels, of an air-chamber in communication with one of thechannels, a closure for the channels and one end of the air-chamber,

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a reciprocating plunger closing the other end of the air-chamber, andmeans for connecting the plunger with the rail, substantially as setforth.

4. The combination, with a receptacle for a fluent electrical conductor,comprisingsockets or chambers having at their lower ends branches whichconverge and merge into one, and contact-points located at intervalsWithin the branches, of an air-chamber, a head-piece forming a closurefor the sockets or chambers and air-chamber and provided with a channelforming a communication between the air-chamber and one of the socketsor chambers, a shield extending partially across one of the sockets orchambers, a reciprocating

